Fighting For Five The LPGA messed up by not letting Annika Sorenstam go the distance

On Monday morning history looked like Annika Sorenstam's bed atthe Reno Hilton--unmade. Sorenstam had to get up before dawn foran interview, via satellite, with Bryant Gumbel on CBS's TheEarly Show at 4:41 a.m. Pacific time, roughly 12 hours after herremarkable LPGA tour winning streak had come to an end when SouthKorea's Se Ri Pak won the Longs Drugs Challenge in Sacramento.

Among mere mortals Sorenstam is the hottest golfer on the planet.She's the first woman to shoot a 59, and last week at the TwelveBridges Golf Club she was gunning for her fifth straight victory,which would've tied the LPGA record set by Nancy Lopez in 1978.Sorenstam, though, was never in contention and finished 43rd.

Still, her run at Lopez's record had jumped the LPGA to the frontpage, a giant leap for women's golf, and pushed you-know-who outof the public's consciousness, if only for a week or so. WhenLopez was burning it up, she appeared on television with JohnnyCarson, Merv Griffin, Bob Hope and Dinah Shore. Sorenstam's gigon Monday morning--the kind of publicity that comes the LPGA's wayabout as often as Halley's Comet--affirmed that the tour again hadsome sizzle.

That's what makes the LPGA's decision to shorten the Longs DrugsChallenge from 72 to 54 holes, thereby diminishing Sorenstam'schances of catching Lopez, so unfathomable. Here was anopportunity bounding toward the tour on a big hop, but the LPGAmorphed into Bill Buckner and let it dribble into rightfield.

Last Thursday, Sorenstam opened the tournament with a 73, puttingher seven strokes behind Pak. With three rounds to play that's amanageable deficit. But when the tour's brass truncated the eventto 54 holes after an all-day downpour on Friday, Sorenstam's taskbecame much more difficult, a fact that was lost on no oneexcept, it seems, the LPGA. The event's sponsor understood themagic of the moment. "This train only stops at the station oncein my lifetime," said Brian Flajole, the tournament director."What would major league baseball do if Mark McGwire was goingfor the home run record and the last game of the season gotrained out? We wanted to play 72 holes."

What was the tour thinking? LPGA official Jim Haley told TheSacramento Bee that there wasn't enough time to get the 81players who made the cut through 36 holes in a day, which meantthere would be--horrors!--a Monday finish, and, "Who's going tocome out on Monday to watch?" he said. If Sorenstam had gotteninto contention, Jim, the entire world, that's who. Besides, doesthe LPGA have so many potential sponsors waiting in the wingsthat it can ignore a reasonable request from one of them? Funny,I could've sworn the tour had a two-week hole in its schedulethis month.

The idea that 81 golfers can't play 36 holes in a day is alsoquestionable. The PGA Tour got 52 players through 36 holes at theBellSouth Classic on the Sunday before the Masters, even thoughthe TPC at Sugarloaf is one of the longest, toughest walks onTour, and cold, gusty winds slowed play. On the LPGA, though,getting in 72 holes clearly isn't a priority, perhaps becausemore than a third of its tournaments go only 54 holes.

You can look at Sorenstam's scores and deduce that going theextra yard would've been pointless, that she wasn't playing wellenough to win anyway. You can look at the putting stats and seethat she ranked 81st--dead last--for the week. What the numbersdon't tell you is that with one fewer round to play, Sorenstamaltered her style of play. "Looking back, I felt as if time wasrunning out even though I had two more days," Sorenstam said onMonday. "I started pushing and pushing, which is not my game.That's my own fault. I learned a lesson: That's not the way toplay."

An informal survey of the players in Sacramento found littlesupport for either a double round on the weekend or a Mondayfinish. "You can't make rulings for one person," said JuliInkster. Helen Alfredsson was more direct. "This is not Annika'stour," she said. "We've played 54 holes before and there wasn'tany argument. If it weren't for her, we wouldn't be talking aboutthis."

Alfredsson was right, but imagine what we would be talking aboutif a different decision had been made, and Sorenstam had had thechance to hole a few putts.

COLOR PHOTO: ROBERT BECK

Said Sorenstam, "I felt as if time was running out even though Ihad two more days. I started pushing and pushing."